Currently I weigh 222 pounds and am 5'7" tall. I work five days a week and commute approximately 1 hour each way. I'm a nurse who works in a psychiatric hospital, although I might be transferring patients or running down the halls at times, most of the time my job is sedentary. I get most of my work done during the morning (laundry, dishes, and take care of my handicapped son's needs) but often take a nap right before work. I have very little energy.

Right now I eat a bowl of cereal with fruit and milk for breakfast, a small sandwich for lunch, a salad and frozen light dinner for dinner and am ravenous when I get home at 1 AM, often eating another meal then. I am drinking approximately 1 gallon of diet tea w/caffeine for energy. I need to figure out how I can get more energy and begin to lose this excess weight.

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5 Replies |Watch This Discussion | Report This| Share this:Starting a weight loss programCurrently I weigh 222 pounds and am 5'7" tall. I work five days a week and commute approximately 1 hour each way. I'm a nurse who works in a psychiatric hospital, although I might be transferring patients or running down the halls at times, most of the time my job is sedentary. I get most of my work done during the morning (laundry, dishes, and take care of my handicapped son's needs) but often take a nap right before work. I have very little energy.

Right now I eat a bowl of cereal with fruit and milk for breakfast, a small sandwich for lunch, a salad and frozen light dinner for dinner and am ravenous when I get home at 1 AM, often eating another meal then. I am drinking approximately 1 gallon of diet tea w/caffeine for energy. I need to figure out how I can get more energy and begin to lose this excess weight.

Eat whole grains and fruits and veggies give nutrients that recover your health and decrease disease-risk and help you lose weight. If necessary after consulting to fitness expert or doctors try weight loss supplements. Weight loss supplements also provide you with sufficient vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients, which are required by the body to retain an overall good health while the fat burning process.

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Report This| Share this:Starting a weight loss programEat whole grains and fruits and veggies give nutrients that recover your health and decrease disease-risk and help you lose weight. If necessary after consulting to fitness expert or doctors try weight loss supplements. Weight loss supplements also provide you with sufficient vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients, which are required by the body to retain an overall good health while the fat burning process.

I won't comment on your lifestyle other than to say it's obvious to you that change is needed (and it gets harder to change as we age).

If anyone reads any of the "before and after miracle weight loss" stories circulating on the internet, you'll notice that the central theme centers around exercise. Those lucky few who lose 100, sometimes, 200 pounds workout, religiously. That's a big piece of the puzzle. From my own experience, daily exercise provides so much benefit, there is simply no more positive lifestyle change a person can make. Continuous, daily activity is essential for weight loss. If you're unwilling or too tired to find time to move a little bit more each and everyday, you're not going to succeed. Tough as that sounds, it's pretty much the rule.

Second, none of them eat or drink, as you do, for "energy". They focus on maximum nutrition with every meal. There's nothing cavalier or impulsive to their approach to eating. It's all planned...There are strict rules to follow...They avoid "accidents", this way. If you notice, all of them lose the desire to eat all the "old" foods they use to enjoy. It's like building a sandcastle to close to the tide. What's the point of all the hard work if a single wave, every night, washes it all away?

Change is tough because it requires a difference in attitude and thinking. I find that education is key to facilitating change. So, study hard and good luck.

If anyone reads any of the "before and after miracle weight loss" stories circulating on the internet, you'll notice that the central theme centers around exercise. Those lucky few who lose 100, sometimes, 200 pounds workout, religiously. That's a big piece of the puzzle. From my own experience, daily exercise provides so much benefit, there is simply no more positive lifestyle change a person can make. Continuous, daily activity is essential for weight loss. If you're unwilling or too tired to find time to move a little bit more each and everyday, you're not going to succeed. Tough as that sounds, it's pretty much the rule.

Second, none of them eat or drink, as you do, for "energy". They focus on maximum nutrition with every meal. There's nothing cavalier or impulsive to their approach to eating. It's all planned...There are strict rules to follow...They avoid "accidents", this way. If you notice, all of them lose the desire to eat all the "old" foods they use to enjoy. It's like building a sandcastle to close to the tide. What's the point of all the hard work if a single wave, every night, washes it all away?

Change is tough because it requires a difference in attitude and thinking. I find that education is key to facilitating change. So, study hard and good luck.

kinda agree with Brunosbud, its not going to be changing one specific aspect of your lifestyle/diet that will bring you the results you want, but rather a more complete approach that will do the most good. Obviously you probably dont have a lot of time to take out of your already packed day to focus on this, so a meal replacement shake that gets you all your nutrients in one serving, plus a generally increase in the consciousness of what you're putting in your body will probably help a lot. The best meal-replacement shake that i know of is Manna 360

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Report This| Share this:Starting a weight loss programkinda agree with Brunosbud, its not going to be changing one specific aspect of your lifestyle/diet that will bring you the results you want, but rather a more complete approach that will do the most good. Obviously you probably dont have a lot of time to take out of your already packed day to focus on this, so a meal replacement shake that gets you all your nutrients in one serving, plus a generally increase in the consciousness of what you're putting in your body will probably help a lot. The best meal-replacement shake that i know of is Manna 360

I'll add this seldom discussed fact as an example what these major weight losers discover during their weight loss journeys: What you eat is far more important than how many calories you consume...

Two people can both eat a 2,000 calorie diet. But depending on content, one person may burn only 200 calories to process and digest their food. Where as my diet may "burn" as much as 600 (of the 2000) calories. This is the "fallacy" of calorie counting that people simply fail to understand (to their own demise). So many people cry that they can't get "motivated" to exercise when if they simply changed their diet they could burn more calories through digestion than they could ever walk or bike in one hour at the gym!

Note: This is the very reason, btw, why meal replacement "shakes" and "bars" don't work, either. You burn nothing on the backend to digest these "foods". Nutrition without the backend "burn" expended through digestion does nothing to raise metabolism. Eating plenty of lean proteins, beans and lentils & fruits and vegetables raises metabolism, naturally, through digestion.

On a side note, many doctors warn of the dangers of overusing laxatives when fighting constipation. Reason being, it makes the colon and large intestines "lazy" and they loose musculature which exacerbates constipation even more.

Digestive problems (colitis, lactose intolerance, diverticulitis, IBS, Celiacs) are commonly associated with Obesity for much the same reason. Their past diet has made their digestive tract weak and lazy. Now, when they eat something high in fiber, they run into trouble.

Report This| Share this:Starting a weight loss programI'll add this seldom discussed fact as an example what these major weight losers discover during their weight loss journeys: What you eat is far more important than how many calories you consume...

Two people can both eat a 2,000 calorie diet. But depending on content, one person may burn only 200 calories to process and digest their food. Where as my diet may "burn" as much as 600 (of the 2000) calories. This is the "fallacy" of calorie counting that people simply fail to understand (to their own demise). So many people cry that they can't get "motivated" to exercise when if they simply changed their diet they could burn more calories through digestion than they could ever walk or bike in one hour at the gym!

Note: This is the very reason, btw, why meal replacement "shakes" and "bars" don't work, either. You burn nothing on the backend to digest these "foods". Nutrition without the backend "burn" expended through digestion does nothing to raise metabolism. Eating plenty of lean proteins, beans and lentils & fruits and vegetables raises metabolism, naturally, through digestion.

On a side note, many doctors warn of the dangers of overusing laxatives when fighting constipation. Reason being, it makes the colon and large intestines "lazy" and they loose musculature which exacerbates constipation even more.

Digestive problems (colitis, lactose intolerance, diverticulitis, IBS, Celiacs) are commonly associated with Obesity for much the same reason. Their past diet has made their digestive tract weak and lazy. Now, when they eat something high in fiber, they run into trouble.

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